


Sixteen

by nowitspersonal (orphan_account)



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: F/M, a lil birthday present bc I'm a poor piece of shit that can't afford shipping, and jaehyun will give u the good stuff later dw, happy birthday my lovely, i hope you have a lovely dayyy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-03
Updated: 2017-06-21
Packaged: 2018-11-14 14:20:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 22,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11209833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/nowitspersonal
Summary: Another year older and another year being the little sunshine that you are, I wish I could give you so much more my darling - happy birthday my lovely!!





	1. The One With The One Night Stand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sO the first one was kind of smutty and idk how that happened but yeah oK it has a fluffy ending bc u know im not a hard stan or anything...

_His lips are on her neck, trailing a line down her shoulder blades and across the summit of her shoulder, grazing her upper chest and slipping further down into the valley of her breasts. By this stage she’s a moaning mess, her hands gripping hard into the sheets around her and her breathing elevated to a new level. She’s trying not to make it seem like he’s affecting her this much, however he’s definitely having some kind of effect on her that she’s never experienced with anyone else before._

_His tongue darts out and flicks the sensitive skin of her areola and her erect nipple that was flushed a deep shade of pink which unsurprisingly matched the colour of her cheeks tingled at the sensation. She practically kicks out at him when his teeth playfully tug on her nipple, pulling back a little to really encourage a moan to slip through the hand that she had covering her mouth._

_He smirks._

_At the sudden movement of his lips against her overly sensitive skin, her eyes flash open and her gaze focuses down at the boy hovering above her left boob, the intensity of her stare almost penetrating. He feigns innocence, his words slurring together slightly as he tries to contain how drunk he really is._

_“What’s up?”_

_He tries to sound nonchalant, even going as far as to rest himself on his elbows and prop his chin up on his palm whilst looking down at her bare form underneath his torso. Suddenly despite the alcohol flowing in a pleasant stream through her blood, she can’t bring herself to abandon a sense of vulnerability with her being the only naked one out of the two of them thus far._

_Although, the way he’s looking at her… she couldn’t exactly say she minded all that much._

_“Are you going to tease me all night?” She quips, her voice apparently betraying her state of drunkenness with the way her words manage to tumble out as one huge syllable. He doesn’t say anything though, the both of them too infatuated with each other to care about how drunk they might actually be._

_Her cheeks must be flushed because his eyes, of which had been drawn to her lips for a large portion of the evening, flicker to her cheekbones in interest. He lowers himself on his arms like he’s on hydraulics, her watchful gaze not missing for a second the way his biceps flex as he lowers himself onto her._

_He grazes his lips across the heated skin of her cheekbones and trails his way to her earlobe, nibbling there experimentally. He pulls away from the skin ever so slightly, but not enough that it excuses the way his mouth moves against her whilst he whispers, “you’re blushing, gorgeous.”_

_She shivers at the close feeling of his warm breath against her neck and shoulder blade, the reaction of her body making him pull her closer out of instinct that remarkably seemed to stay despite the strong smell of Soju on his breath indicating they’d both probably be at a stage where values were forgotten._

_The act of him pulling her closer to his flushed body was enough to indicate to her that he was feeling the sexual excitement between them also, the hard length pressed against her inner thigh enough to tell her that the feeling of attraction here was mutual._

_Almost out of pure curiosity to test his reactions and mostly just to hear him moan as loudly as he had done unto her, she reaches the closest hand that had been balled into the sheets to palm at his erect member waiting and straining for attention in his too-tight paint-on skinny jeans. Almost as soon as she brushes her fingertips over the outline of the shape he ceases the nibbling on her ear, his motion stopped midway through a particularly arousing tug on her lobe._

_Liking the reaction, she decides to take it one step further and take a firm grab on the thing now attracting all of her interest. He gasps rather loudly at her movement, his hips jolting at the sudden touch and his body reacting as though he craved more._

_And then, just as quickly as it had arrived, her hand was retracted back and moved to rest on his bicep that flexed as he struggled to keep himself at that particular height on the bed, just brushing against her exposed body._

_“Are you going to tease me all night?” He quips in response, earning a giddy laugh from the both of them, both of them high on their push and pull response to each other’s presence._

_The laugh is abruptly cut short when she moves her hips and adjusts her legs so that they were now (by complete coincidence) in the missionary position. She wraps her legs around his back and crosses them where his belt sat loosely around his waist, her hips moving in a way that caused her exposed womanhood to press against his ever so present shaft. One jerk of her hips and a roll back to her position flat on the bed is enough to entice a moan from the back of his throat, loud and clear and so deliciously lewd that she needs to hear it again immediately after it’s finished._

_She can’t help but take a deep breath in at the noise, her heart hammering a little faster than before. She whispers against his jawline, “I’m thinking about it.”_

 

 

Sunlight streams in through the small parting in the curtains, hitting him directly in the face and stirring him from sleep. His whole body is warm and mildly sticky but the pleasant feeling that swims through his veins and arteries seems to deter the discomfort of the aftermath of sex, he feels himself practically glowing with the satisfying feeling of getting off. Although, due to the amount of alcohol he consumed the previous night, he finds himself in desperate need of an Advil to quench the thirst of the pounding headache he had acquired. 

The air in the room was familiar in that he was not a virgin and knew all too well what sex smelt like, however, he had never become used to the smell nor was it something he craved. It was sweat mostly, and bodily fluids. And whichever way you slice it, it doesn’t sound all that pleasant. 

The smell seemed to have a hint of perfume too, which oddly hadn’t occurred to him yet that he doesn’t _completely_ remember who he hooked up with last night and who he ended up boning until the early hours. One look down at himself through freshly opened eyes told him he had a bit of a wild night, his chest smattered with hickeys of varying colours and sizes and the red marks around his biceps told him that someone had been impressed with his skills last night and had needed something to hold onto. He hopes anyway. 

There’s a stir in the bed beside him and he knows he can’t face away from the other involving member of this encounter for too long, and besides it wasn’t often he hooked up drunk with someone and then had the excitement (or equally dread) of finding out what they really looked like the next day. 

Cautiously, he flips himself over so he was facing away from the unfamiliar bedroom wall, bracing himself for whatever he was about to see on the other side. 

The first thing he noticed was that she was _glowing_. Not radioactive glowing thank god (at least he’d hooked up with someone normal), but more like the afterglow of the events of last night was practically radiating off of her. Her hair was dark brown and so soft he immediately felt the tingle in his fingers and palms to reach out and see if it was as soft as it looked. 

_‘That’s creepy, why would you want to do that?’_ He thinks subconsciously as his eyes scan the rest of her face.

Her eyelids began to flutter a little as she begins the process of being aroused from sleep. Jaehyun would usually be kicking himself for not completing the walk of shame without awkward morning interaction which he would now have to endure, but he couldn’t bring himself to. The girl in front of him was something else. She was just...so- so-

“Gorgeous.” 

Her eyes open in surprise at the voice in her room, and he almost jumps in surprise that the words had left his lips when he hadn’t meant them to. He can feel the blush spread like wildfire over his cheeks and up to the tips of his ears, his heart pounding and his eyes widening as he feels true fear settle over him.

Her eyes are the most amazing shade of chocolate, coffee, toffee, anything bordering hazelnut and rich mahogany. The eyes looking back at him are wide and the lashes framing them are so dark and long she looks too good to be true, and it would be an understatement for him to say that her gaze upon him was making him anxious. 

He’d punched above his weight this time, most definitely. What would she think of him in return?

He suddenly can’t look her in the eye so he decides to look at his hands that were clasped over his stomach and resting above the covers. He plays with his fingers nervously, waiting for some kind of reaction from her and trying to gauge whether he should speak first or not. Was that a thing the guy did in this situation?

He expects some kind of outcry of disgust at his appearance in comparison to her’s, perhaps an awkward cough or scratch of the head as she finds herself going to take a shower and encourage him to leave whilst she wallows in her shame. So imagine his surprise when she asks him, in the quietest tiniest voice, “what’s your name?” 

Stopping his motion with his hands, he forces himself to look at her, although he’s having to settle for looking at the bridge of her nose because those eyes are making him too nervous to speak. He wills his voice to come out strong and not waver like it usually did when he was on-edge. 

“Yoonoh.” Strong enough at least. “What’s yours?” 

She smiles, and the afterglow she seems to have is only intensified. He has to look away again for the attack of butterflies in his stomach. This wasn’t supposed to happen on a one-night stand, it was supposed to be no strings attached - so what was he doing?

“Maria.” She tells him, sounding a little more confident than before but only by a smidge.

And now, oddly enough, he can’t _stop_ looking at her. She’s so beautiful, so alluring, so gorgeous… he can feel the attraction like a magnet in his chest and it’s such an odd feeling because he’s never felt it this strong before.

He can barely breathe.

“Do you want to get breakfast with me?” 

Wait. 

Did he just ask that? 

Did _he_ say that?

The silence that falls between them is so sudden and abrupt that it appears to answer his question for him. If silence could mock. 

He opens his mouth to call his proposal stupid and that he doesn’t know what he’s thinking, maybe even just stand up and bolt out of Maria’s apartment and back home so he doesn’t have to deal with this embarrassing situation ever again. 

He’s about to stand up and leave the bed and make a run for his clothes that were scattered on the landing of her flat somewhere when she has a hand on his arm to stop him from bolting as if she could read his mind. She shoots him a reassuring smile, looking just as nervous as he felt inside. 

“I’d love to.”


	2. The One Where He Needs a Little Reassurance

She wakes up to the rhythmic thumping of the rain lashing onto the windows outside, a sound she had grown to find soothing and thus relaxed her tensed muscles from the sudden awakening. Feeling that everything was just as it should be in the milliseconds she had been awake, she falls backwards onto the pillows again and settles into the spot her head had been resting in an attempt to drift off into slumber once more.

Just listening to the rain outside.

The peace lasts for a whole 3 seconds before her eyes are opening wide for the first time, her mind buzzing with the knowledge that something was missing. Something warm, something lovable and some _one_ gorgeously perfect for her. 

She sits up in bed, the satin sheets falling from her shoulders and pooling neatly around her waist. She’s bare and void of pyjamas from the adventures of said lover-boy from merely hours ago, her body still burning the embers of satisfaction that had come from that sexual encounter when they had both arrived home significantly needy for each other. 

She immediately senses there’s something wrong. The temperature in the room was perfect for what he liked to sleep in, unbelievably cold with the AC on so he could pull her closer and say it was for ‘keeping warm’. He couldn’t have left the bed because of the temperature. She squints into the darkness and tries to make sense of the shapes she can only just make out from the light on the analogue clock that sat as a sentry on the bedside table. A glass of water on his bedside table was still half full, he didn’t need to go to the kitchen because he was thirsty. 

Instinctively she knows something is wrong immediately, however she now felt a sudden note of curiosity and almost worry for what she would find when she did seek out her boyfriend.

Maria stands, her thoughts loud enough to drain out the sounds of the rain outside.

As soon as she stands she feels the immediate need to pull something on to cover her exposed body up. The closest thing (one of his plaid shirts hanging from the desk chair on her side of the room) is pulled over her shoulders and she shimmies into the underwear she had kicked off in a hurry when they had entered the room in a flurry of passion hours previously. 

There’s noise coming from the kitchen, like the sound of draws being opened and noises of grunts. 

Panic sets in.

There’s someone in the house and she doesn’t know where her boyfriend is.

Of course, her mind turns to the worst possible scenarios in order to rationalise the situation. Is he dead in the kitchen? Has an intruder got in and is planning a horrific crime as she stands there?

Remarkably her fight or flight senses seem to kick in at this stage and she finds herself heading in the direction of the bedroom door which was slightly ajar and letting light pool in from another room in the house. The floor is cold under her toes and she has enough sense and overall calm to slip her feet into her slippers that sat just beside the door for times like these. 

She pulls her boyfriend’s plaid shirt closer to her body, wrapping herself in it until she was bound tightly and snugly into the material. The door is pulled open with ginger motions, trying to ease it open and let her eyes adjust to the light from down the hall gradually rather than all at once and risk blinding herself temporarily. 

There are more noises that can be heard with the door open and when she’s halfway down the hall she is able to distinguish the noises as being her boyfriend. She knows him too well, the way his heavy footsteps dragged a little when he walked and the occasional clear of his throat that he did when his morning voice kicked in and everything sounded a little more croaky for the first hour of being awake. She knew him too well.

Maria peers around the doorway into the kitchen, immediately blinking in the light and squinting in reaction. 

Her boyfriend was in the middle of the kitchen, and thankfully not dead like her mind had suggested.

Although, the sight threw up more questions than answers to say the least. 

He was, by the looks of it, making a cake. 

He was dressed in only his flannel pyjama bottoms, his hair still messy from sleep and sex all in one night. His brown hair falls into his eyes due to his fringe being in desperate need of a haircut yet the back of his head stood upright and tall with strands sticking out in a multitude of directions. He’s not wearing a shirt, and from the doorway, all Maria can see is the muscles working in his back as he beats the mixture in the bowl with a wooden spoon instead of using the electric whisk in the cupboard. 

She looks upwards at the clock pinned onto the kitchen wall just above the fridge and sees that it’s 2:30 am, this fact only amplified by the yawn her boyfriend added onto the end of her thought process.

All she can comprehend is how confused she is.

“Jaehyun?” 

He jumps a little and almost drops the spoon, immediately spinning around with ease as his pyjama bottoms were a little too long and slipped under his ankles which he used to push himself around on the wooden floors of the apartment. 

Jaehyun blinks at her for a second, possibly letting it sink in that she was, in fact, awake and standing in the doorway of the kitchen. For a second she considers as she stares back at him that he might be sleep walking and had somehow managed to make cake batter whilst he was in a dream world, although that wasn’t very likely it was the only solution she had so far.

There’s a flash of panic on his face for a millisecond as he looks at her before he tries to skillfully slip the bowl of mixture behind his back as if she didn’t know what he was doing by now.

“Princess, what are you doing awake?” 

She takes a step into the room and a step closer to him. He suddenly looks so lost in the big room despite him being tall and broad himself, it made her want to pull him close, pull him back to bed and ask him all the questions in the morning.

“I woke up and you weren’t there. I got worried.” She takes a small glance to his arms and how they were pulled behind his back to conceal the bowl of cake mix from her like she hadn’t seen it already. “What are you doing?” 

“Uh…” He takes one hand off the bowl behind his back to itch the side of his neck, however in the process almost drops the bowl behind him and almost drops the cake mix everywhere. Maria rushes forwards, wrapping an arm around Jaehyun to take hold of the side of the bowl before it fell out of his palm. 

She places it on the counter, whipping the spoon out of his hand in the process and dropping it into the bowl so he was forced to look at her.

“Why are you making a cake at two am?”

He fiddles with the drawstrings of his pyjama pants and twirls them around his fingers, looking like a child who was in trouble with his parents. “I...I…”

She waits, one hand on her hip. She’s not letting him get off the hook with this one. 

He lowers his head in shame, suddenly unable to look at her properly in the eye, “I forgot our anniversary.” 

There’s a beat of silence, and the shame emanating off of the tall boy was enough to make Maria feel it too. 

She walks forwards, closing the gap between them so there was no space that could break them apart. She was pushed against his bare chest, their hands entwined at their sides. She had to look up at him from this angle due to him towering over her, Jaehyun looking down at her with a confused expression on his face which just screamed the words - _’aren’t you supposed to be mad?_ Nevertheless, he welcomed her touch and presence just as much as he always did.

Maria rubs her thumbs over the back of his hands, leaning against his chest and rocking the both of them slightly as she did so. 

“Babe, our anniversary isn’t until next month.” 

There’s only silence, filled with the ticking of the clock and the sound of their breathing. 

“Please tell me you’re joking.” 

“No. You asked me out on my birthday, remember? The 3rd of July.” 

There’s another pause, but this time Maria knows that Jaehyun is just in a state of relief and that he’s also mentally kicking himself for getting the days wrong and getting up at 2 am to make a cake in their kitchen when he had practice in the morning to prepare for a comeback season.

His arms move slowly, letting go of Maria’s hands and winding themselves around her waist in order to draw her even closer and bring them more intimately together. His chest and his arms are wonderfully warm so she welcomes the touch, naturally. His face is buried in her hair once she’s close enough and she finds herself pressing a short butterfly kiss to his collarbone.

More silence passes, but this time it is broken in a way she doesn’t expect.

She hears and feels him sniff inwards.

Immediately she tightens her grip on him ever so slightly, her eyes opening again as she feels his heartbeat against her cheek. His shoulders rise and fall a little too sharply and she knows once he sniffs again and has to take a deep breath that he’s crying.

She pulls back, her eyes wide with concern. She brings one hand up to cup his chin and lift it, bringing his low hanging head to be eye level with hers. His cheeks glisten in the light of the kitchen lamps and his eyes look impossibly glassy as he looks back at her with his bottom lip ever so slightly quivering.

“Baby, it’s ok. It’s good that it isn’t until next month right? It means we get a cake and we get to have a special day to ourselv-” 

“How did I forget what month it was?” 

There’s another beat. 

“What?” 

Jaehyun keeps looking from the floor to at her, flickering between the two and wondering who would pressure him for answers the least. Maria’s hands stay on him but his own hands find themselves drawn back to the drawstrings on his pants, twisting and knotting, undoing and then repeating.

“I’m so focused on work, I didn’t even know what month it was.” His voice is cracking in several different places and every time it did he winces so hard it causes a couple of tears to drip down from his eyes and onto Maria’s slippers with the angle his head is resting at.

“It’s not great, I know. But, you’re so passionate and you do what you love every day-” 

“What if I’m forgetting you?” He bursts out, looking at her dead in the eye now. The mere look on his face is enough to break her heart, enough to bring a lump to her throat and the sting of tears to her eyes. “I’m so caught up in work, Maria, I don’t want to get so caught up that I forget about the little things we do or even the big things.”

“You won’t forget. If they mean something to you then you’d never be able to forget them. I love you, I tell you every day, and you tell me the same everyday when you can-”

 

“‘When I can’. That’s the problem. Work is so big and so demanding that I don’t get the time to treat you right. You deserve so much better than this, than me. Than a stupid cake being made at 2 am just because your boyfriend forgot about your anniversary date-”

 

“Yoonoh.” 

He stops, his gaze focused on her and only her. She only used his real name when things got serious or she was upset, it made it that much more powerful to him.

“You’re everything to me. Your work is everything to you. I don’t mind sharing you with work because you do what you love. Every day you live your dream and you go everyday being the happiest you’ve ever been. I’m just happy to support you and love you always, I’m here for you always. You know that. You’re not losing me and I need you in order for me to be happy. You love me with everything you have, no expenses spared.”

She takes his hands into hers again, pulling him closer to her and pressing a soft chaste kiss to his cheek. 

“You’re amazing. Don’t forget that. And don’t keep these thoughts to yourself, I love you and I want to be able to help you through it when times get rough. That’s what couples do- right?” 

He manages to break a small smile, even if it is small at least it’s better than the heartbreaking look from moments ago. 

“I think I’m in love with you.” He manages to whisper, his hands going to her hips and slipping under the material of his shirt which he regards with interest.

“I should hope so, it’s our third anniversary next month.” She laughs lightly, her hand slipping up to card through his messy bed hair and feel the softness of his locks through her fingers. He hums at the touch, his face still damp from spilling his emotions.

“Let’s head back to bed, Babe.” 

“Ok.” 

She reaches to put the cake mixture into the refrigerator and he moves to switch the kitchen light off after she’s done. As soon as she leaves the kitchen doorway he moves to fall into the step behind her, resting his head on the crown of her own and pressing a kiss there. 

“Was it chocolate?” 

“What?” 

“The cake, was it chocolate?” 

“Vanilla.” He reaches around and kisses her cheek delicately, moving a little closer to her lips than before. “I was going to put chocolate frosting on it though.” 

She smiles, knowing he’d got up in the middle of the night and had been prepared to bake in order to make up for him forgetting something he didn’t need to remember made her feel warm inside. 

“You’re good to me.” 

He sighs comically and drums his fingers on her hips as if to show is boredom, “I know.”


	3. The One With The Not-So-Lazy Sunday

He kept wriggling around, like a worm; a gigantic, annoying worm that knew no bounds. She elbowed him, pinched him, pushed him and did all she could but he wouldn’t stop moving. It’d been an hour, how was he not tired yet?

“ _'Lazy'_ , Jaehyun. It’s _lazy_ Sunday. As in, not-move-around-as-much-as-is-humanly-possible kind of Sunday.”

She nudged him in every place possible with each word, even then he showed no response to her hits and annoyance, he started snorting into his pillow which only irritated her even more. 

Letting out a screech Maria started thrashing around on the bed; “Yoonoh!”

That sure caught his attention as he finally moved his head up from the pillow to stare at her with wide eyes and a lopsided smile. Resting his head on his hand he just watched her as she wailed and rolled around on the bed. 

He held his laughter in but decided it would be best to only fuel the fire further; “You’re such a drama queen”

She ceases thrashing and immediately sits bolt right up with force, ready to start a full-on war for the sake of revenge at her infuriating boyfriend. Before she could even manage to turn around and see his face, however, she found her body suddenly dipping with the movement of the bed and sudden weight pushing onto her shoulders that was neither uncomfortable nor pleasant. She wailed in response as Jaehyun swung his legs over the top of her torso so his knees rested at her hips and he straddled her, pinning her to the bed, a wide smile on his face that displayed his dimples remarkably. 

He looked down at her with amusement written all over his face, which caused Maria to pout in annoyance.

Almost as if he were scared, his body lowered so he was hovering just above her face, his eyes turned to her lips and flickering up to her eyes occasionally to make sure she wasn't going to bite him or something. His lips slowly kissed her cheek; and although she'd hate to admit it, the softness of them made her forget she was annoyed.

Skillfully his long arms wrapped around her waist as he rolled around on the bed, using his straddle on her hips to pull her over with him so she lay on his chest comfortably. Her eyes flickered down to his face and saw that his eyes were closed, ironically that now he was tired Maria didn't feel all too pleased about it just being a lazy-Sunday and wanted nothing more than to feel the softness of his mouth on hers instead of just on her cheek. Although, maybe now he finally realised the meaning of a lazy day. 

Exhaling all her frustration she rested her head on his chest and listened to his heartbeat just pressed against her cheek, soothing her into a dream-like state. It was good he tired himself out but she couldn’t help but feel the need to get him back, the right words just weren’t coming into her mind as she opened and closed her mouth several times. The movement of her mouth on his shirt was enough to make him sense what she was trying to do.

“Maria, stop trying to talk.”

If looks could kill Jaehyun would have died for the tenth time in just a few minutes.

His large hands rubbed her back soothingly, moving in a figure of eight and drawing the occasional love heart because he could be corny like that sometimes (not that Maria minded too much, of course). He hummed to himself, his movements putting her to sleep as she finally felt like it was a lazy Sunday. Everything was quiet apart from the sounds of his heartbeat and the humming that rumbled through his chest pleasantly.

And then he started moving.


	4. The One With The Glasses

When they’d set off on their walk down the side of the Han River, neither one of them had suspected anything likely to turn the weather from the sunny skies they had set out in. However, as they walked together for an increasing period of time, it was becoming clear that it was not all that it seemed. Black clouds began rolling overhead and it was obvious that they were going to end up in this storm when the heavens finally did decide to crack open. 

Jaehyun, however, didn’t even seem phased. He had a bright smile on his face even when he wasn’t looking at Maria (which wasn’t often, he was pretty much _always_ looking at Maria) and he swung their entwined hands in between them joyfully whilst humming a soft tune under his breath that sounded a lot like Without You if Maria was hearing right.

Maria, who had been in a happy mood but was now suddenly in the process of a change, found herself constantly glancing upwards at the sky as if it was going to give her a warning sign of when they should start running for the nearest band stand or pagoda. 

It was as Maria felt the first drop on the tip of her nose that she finally turned to Jaehyun and squeezed his hand gently for reassurance and to gain his full attention. He turned to her, his eyes having to flicker down ever so slightly due to the height difference that neither of them could seem to get used to yet. It was rather adorable and awkward which suited the two of them somewhat surprisingly well.

More rain was falling just in the mere seconds that had passed from the gesture. What had once been one rain drop on her nose was now seven on her coat, three on her nose and a scattering on her forehead. 

“Maybe we should find some cover before it-”

As if on cue, the warning sign Maria had been wanting from the sky seemed to alert them both of what was to come. The thunder rumbled overhead like the bellows of a giant, the ground shaking the tiniest bit with the intensity of the noise. The black clouds were now completely overhead and swirling around in a menacing and ominous way that brought chills to her arms. 

Besides, the wind was picking up too.

“Where did that come from?” Jaehyun says incredulously, looking genuinely surprised by the clouds above them. It made Maria smile that he was so invested in their date he hadn’t even been paying attention to anything else happening around them, like they were in their own little bubble.

There was no one else on the walkway now for as far as the eye could see, more raindrops falling to indicate as to why there was no one else around. The two of them scanned the surrounding area and turned back to each other with a look of exasperation on their faces, the both of them basically thinking the same thing.

“But I was enjoying our date.” Jaehyun pouts, raindrops beginning to collect in his hair and roll down onto his jacket. As if to punctuate his sadness, another rumble of thunder sounded overhead and made Maria grip Jaehyun’s hands that tiniest bit tighter. “That ice cream store won’t be open now, I was going to buy you the cookie dough one that you like.” 

Although the thought is sweet and one she would probably ponder over later, she finds herself drawing closer to Jaehyun’s body as they faced each other in the middle of the walkway, rain beginning to come down harder and harder with each moment that passed, signifying that the heavens were indeed opening above them. She doesn’t particularly care too much about the cookie dough ice cream just now.

“Shouldn’t we focus on getting out of this rain?” 

Jaehyun, who irritatingly didn’t seem to be in any kind of rush to find some cover, shrugged and turned back to her after looking left and right for _any_ kind of cover. “Okay, but where?”

“Uh…” 

As Maria tried to think of something, Jaehyun was in the process of shrugging off his jacket and pulling it open so it stretched over the both of them, albeit not too much onto his side. He seemed to be more concerned with keeping Maria dry than himself. 

By that stage their hair had become matted and they were soaked to the skin for the most part, the rain practically bouncing off of the sidewalk and off of the top of Jaehyun’s coat which acted as waterproof shielding from the outside storm.

Oddly enough, Jaehyun giggles. It catches Maria’s attention from her thoughts on what they should do considering nowhere would be open and there was no shelter for miles. He was looking at her under the coat and grinning so wide his dimples were the deepest she’s seen them, his body moving closer to hers out of instinct when he was happy.

“What are you smiling about?” She asks, the edges of her own mouth twitching with the need to grin. Jaehyun had that effect on her for the most part.

“Your glasses…” 

He holds the coat up with one hand now and gestures for Maria to hold the other side up. When she does, he takes his free hand and holds the side of her face tenderly, his thumb reaching up the slightest bit to brush the water droplets that had formed on her glasses and act as a windscreen wiper. The act made him giggle again and she couldn’t help but feel she had fallen in love with a man child who was pleased and amused by the most simple of things.

And she loved it.


	5. The One Where He's Needy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I had to throw a lil smut one (sort of) in here, right?

“Baby,” His husky voice entered her ears – it was like sweet poison entering her body, making her heat up in an instant under his voice. “You’re so hot.” His breath hit her ear as his lips moved against the skin there, tickling her skin just like that.

She had no idea how and why but as soon as she entered their bedroom after a long day of work, it seems like her boyfriend had more in store for her than she would have bargined for as he had called her over towards the bed. Not knowing what was going on, she simply took off your jacket along with her dress shirt to leave her in her white tank top and her pencil skirt but it seems like he had yanked her down hard enough as she passed him by from where he was sat on the bed to cage her in with his strength underneath him, him hovering over her in a matter of seconds.

His eyes were burning with lust – and she knew that.

To be quite honest, she didn’t mind because work was seriously driving her insane.

Having Jaehyun relieve it – it would be nice.

“You have no idea…” He groaned softly when he pressed his body down on hers, letting her feel his hard member against her inner thigh, “How hard I’ve been for you all day…” His voice went down an octave, causing her to feel a sensation building up inside her, going straight down to her core as she felt yourself feeling the same exact feelings that came as a package deal whenever he talked dirty to her.

And this was only the beginning.

“How hard are you?” She muttered softly, his face moving to align with hers as he gave her a smirk, “Very,” His hand move down to cup the in between of her legs, “-very hard.” He growled a little, a hand crawling beneath her ass where he skillfully unzipped her skirt. Maria let out a soft gasp when his hands groped her ass with one hand – hard, before he yanked down her skirt, throwing it across the room without a care of where there would end up.

“Hey… I liked that skirt.” She mumbled, causing him to chuckle darkly – that voice, was such a turn on.

“I’ll buy you as many skirts as you’d like, sweetheart. As long as I can make us both get off, right now.”

He crawled on her again and she noticed he had pried down her panties, leaving her with nothing but her tank top and bra on. Just as he hovered on top of her again, he dived down to crash their lips together, her hands lifting up to tangle them in his beautiful dark brown locks. He had her parting her lips just for him as he slipped his tongue in desperately – in a need to taste her. She allowed him all too willingly. As he kissed her hungrily, he managed to settle in between her legs, brushing his erection against her bare entrance. She mewled into the kiss, moving her hands to the bed sheets where she gripped them tight with the need of wanting more and more from him.

He chuckled lowly when he broke the kiss, loving the sight of her panting for him.

“J-Jaehyun…” Maria's voice was soft, but oh so lustful to his ears.

“I need something from you, princess.” His voice was deep as he let his hand trail down to the between of her legs. He had his thumb pressed against her clit, gently rubbing circles around to make her breathing shallower than it already was. “W-What is that…?”

“I want you screaming for me, baby. I’ll do all the things I want with you. Okay?”

She didn’t even know what the hell he was mumbling about but she gave a vigorous nod. “Jaehyun, please.”

He ‘tsk’-ed, but he surged a finger into her body, causing Maria to let her body arch off the bed. He eased his way in and out of her body, wanting to take things slow, however it didn't last too long. The moment she moaned his name in a very, breathy yet erotic way, he had lost control completely. He slipped in three fingers in an instant, not holding himself back as he was busy with his lips at the side of her neck while he pumped his fingers fast and hard – wanting her to reach her high as quickly as he could make her. It had her trembling in his grip, her body in a state of complete ecstasy.

But then.

“J-Jaehyun, I-!” Maria managed to breathe out, not knowing where he was pleasuring her better as he grazed his teeth over her skin at the love mark he was giving her, “What is it?” He growled against her skin, causing Maria to wince when she felt her walls clenching around his fingers – she was so close but she felt something tickling her nose, most probably his hair as he moved to face her. “What?” He asked again, concerned. He'd stopped his movements when he caught sight of her face scrunched up – adorably nevertheless. He continued to watch her with concern on his face, waiting for a response - had he done something wrong?

She tilted her head to the side, using a hand to cover her face and she _sneezed._

She couldn’t actually believe that just happened – but ladies and gentleman, it just did.

She felt her cheeks heating up hotter than usual and felt like the sexual atmosphere was crashing down around the two of them because of her. “ _Great…_ ” She mumbled softly to herself, feeling dejected as she knew he probably wouldn’t want to continue. He noticed this almost immediately and had a hand at the side of her cheek to tilt her face to meet with his – why was he smiling?

“Bless you.” He snickered kissing the tip of her nose with a grin. “Can I carry on?” He asked calmly, causing her to raise an eyebrow at him.

She gaped at him, “I just… you want to carry on?”

He cocked an eyebrow, “You don’t want me to do-” His fingers curled in her perfectly, hitting her sweet spot that caused her eyes to roll back in bliss – how was it possible that he could instantly initiate the atmosphere that was built up a moment ago with such ease? She cursed loudly, something she saved usually for him. “-this?” He finished his sentence, causing her to gulp as her eyes opened tiredly at him, “Of course I want it but-“

“But what?” He eased his fingers out just to slide back in, easily building up her orgasm again. Her hands seem to still grip on the bed sheets tightly as she whimpered at what he was doing to her body, “I thought that I killed the atmosphere because of… you know…”

He simply chuckled, dipping down to kiss her lips in assurance before he pulled away. “Princess, it's alright. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Besides, I said ‘bless you’, didn’t I?”

Nodding once, she smiled at him, “Y-Yeah, you did.”

He forcefully pulled his fingers out to thrust them back into her body, causing her to moan his name back again in the tone she was moaning in the first place – he felt like he was on a high, so did she. “Then hush up, baby. I want to make you feel good.”


	6. The One With The Braces

It had started off with a simple short and shallow kiss that hadn’t really been significant in the grand scheme of Jaehyun’s notorious make-out skills. In fact the first kiss of that day had been something rather passing and had been in motion whilst Jaehyun moved to go collect the mail from the mailbox in the front yard, he’d grinned sheepishly against her lips as he had done so and Maria should have known this was an indicator of what kind of mood he was in. He didn’t even get as far as the door before he finds himself being immediately drawn back to the girl still preparing breakfast in the centre of the kitchen. 

He’d almost advanced towards her like a man on a mission, whipping her out of her mindset and immediately drawing all of her attention into those deep brown eyes she had learned could tell a thousand words with just one look. Now, they only told one word, and it could only be described as ‘want’. 

Large hands immediately grip her waist and she gasps in surprise as she feels him tugging her closer, a usual sign that he’s going to struggle keeping it measured and simple. It’s only 9:15 and he’s already feeling horny by the looks of it, not that Maria was all that surprised. 

“Fuck…” 

Is all he can manage to say as his forehead presses against hers and he closes his eyes lightly, giving Maria the chance to study his features before he engaged her in what she already knew was going to come next. 

“Can I kiss you?” He tries, his voice not reaching above a whisper. 

She merely nods, not wanting to break such a moment with more words that didn’t need to be spoken.

He leans in slowly, smiling so hard his dimples appear up until the last second before their lips touch. He started slow, short and shallow, inviting her in for more and making her work for a deeper kiss which apparently she was craving despite feeling nothing before. The things he did to her.

Eventually however, he begins to lose himself in the moment, in her. The love of his life. 

He begins to lose comprehension of how intensely he’s kissing her, only focusing on how much he wants to feel more of her in every way. How addictive she was, how amazing she felt against him. Maria would never admit it out of fear he would be too embarrassed, but she could feel the strength of his heartbeat against her chest even through the thickness of their clothes. 

It caused her to smirk against his lips, knowing how much she had him wrapped around her little finger.

She even had to break the quickly escalating chain of events midway through, pressing her hand into Jaehyun’s face to deter him for a moment whilst she turned the stove off and put the pancake batter in the fridge for cooling. Whilst she did so he pressed his lips to each one of her fingers in turn, smiling like a lovestruck fool with each peck against her palm.

Almost as soon as she was done, Jaehyun started to kiss her with just as much, possibly with even more, passion as before. He was acting as though they had never met one another’s lips before and was practically desperate in the nature in which he kissed her. He was letting soft moans escape his lips and he’d hum on occasion when a kiss was particularly to his liking, giving the indication that he had wanted to kiss her with this level of ferocity for some time.

Eventually, he had enough of standing in the middle of the kitchen trying to control himself and resorted to pushing her against the cupboards and pinning her there for his hands to roam her body. His hands slipped skillfully up her shirt, brushing the underside of her boobs with his thumbs and making her push into his touch a little more due to the teasing nature of the movement. When she moved her body downwards slightly to fit against his touch and slip her breasts into the cup of his hands, he bites her lip sensually, biting down lightly and tugging on it to arouse a moan from her. 

When she does moan lewdly, Jaehyun lets a low sound escape his throat, sounding on the edge of a growl. He picks her up by her thighs, letting her rest around his waist while he slipped his hands to hold her ass as he moved her out of the room and started walking down the hall with her in his grip, their lips only breaking from one another’s for the sake of movement. It allowed Maria to suck a hickey on his neck with practised motions, sucking down hard and biting the forming mark and featuring the occasional lap of her tongue against his soft skin, leaving him moaning as he practically kicked their bedroom door down to get inside.

He falls backwards onto the bed, his arms firmly wrapped around Maria and holding her against his hips whilst her legs crossed over his back to hold him against her tightly. What had started out with them just making breakfast together had suddenly turned into so much more, something totally unexpected as per usual when Jaehyun had his outbursts of affection towards her. 

She had been mixing pancake mix no more than three minutes ago, whisk in hand and eggs cracked into a bowl for mixing with the flour. Now she found herself with her boyfriend in a tangled mess in the sheets, arms and legs in a complete knot and their lips connected at the centre. 

He lay down with his back against the fresh linen, a pillow comfortably supporting his head so his neck didn’t hurt whilst he strained up to reach his love’s lips again and again and again. Maria straddled him, her knees either side of his hips and her hands slipping slowly up his shirt. 

Whenever he needed to pull back for a moment his breath would come out shaky and uncontrolled, his entire body running on the energy kissing his girl gave him. Whenever you’d gasp at the slightest movement of his hands in a particularly sensitive area he’d go harder with his lips, going faster and trying to feel more of you in one single moment. 

“I can’t get enough of you…”

His voice is scratchy and hoarse now compared to when they first started in the kitchen, his breath coming out in pants and willing his body’s oxygen levels to catch up to the feeling he needed to satisfy. He pulls back enough so that he can get a full view of the beautiful girl who sits in his lap, his hands coming up from her hips to hold her cheeks. He runs his thumb over her lower lip, the other thumb slowly making circles into her cheek. 

Her hair is a mess from where his hands had been roaming in it yet it was still impossibly soft just like it always was. Her shirt is falling off her shoulder and letting her collarbones slip out, of which were decorated with fading marks from previous mornings like the one they were experiencing. He looks up at her, feeling his heartbeat continue to thump against his ribcage mercilessly. 

“Let me show you how good I can make you feel…”

Jaehyun lets his hands run up and down your thighs, just brushing the sensitive skin there and enjoying the way it made your body relax against his. He had a hold on you, that much was certain. 

This time Maria leans forwards, the sight of her boyfriend lying underneath her with practically sex hair and a sleepy grin plastered on his face as he took in the sight of her enough to pull her in to kiss him once more. However, either she ducks in for the kiss too forcefully or they both go in too suddenly, but their lips collide in an unpleasant way and leaves Jaehyun moving backwards to break away in a sudden hurry, a cry of pain leaving his mouth.

He lifts a hand to his lips where the collision between their mouths had been most sudden and draws his fingers away to find them crimson. 

“You’re bleeding!” She says, beginning to panic and immediately moves to get off of him in search of some tissues. 

“I think I caught my lip on your braces-” 

“Oh my god, wait right there-”

Remarkably despite him bleeding from his lower lip, he starts chuckling. The grip his hands have on Maria’s thighs is enough to keep her grounded, words of comfort slipping through his split lips. “Princess, I’m ok. Really, stop worrying.” 

“You’re fucking bleeding, you idiot.” She says, reaching for the box of tissues that Jaehyun kept on the bedside table. She takes three or four out of the box in handfuls, immediately pressing them to her boyfriend’s lips gently and wiping at any blood that trickled down his chin. 

“Iwuvoo.” He says, his words masked by the tissues covering his mouth. She can feel him smiling up at her despite the awful situation through the tissues she has pressed to his lips, it causes the corners of her own lips to turn up slightly. 

“I love you too.”


	7. The One With The Notes

Jaehyun’s fixated gaze momentarily lifted so he could casually glance over at the teacher to make it appear as though he were listening to the lesson and not in the process of writing one of the most important letters he should ever write when he most certainly shouldn’t be writing it.

In looking up, he also manages to get a little chance to peek at Maria who sat in the front row just opposite his chair who sat a row behind. She wasn’t exactly listening attentively so it made it all the less easier for him to manage to have a good look without her catching him, and he blushed horribly whenever she looked at him purely out of nervousness. He looks at her when she doesn’t know she’s being looked at purely because it is when he finds her most beautiful.

She didn’t seem to bothered by Jaehyun stealing occasional glances at her from across the classroom due to her focusing ninety percent of her attention to the world outside, her large eyes following the every movement of the gardener who tended the rolling lawns of the grass embankments below the third story window.

His fingers glide over the paper to smooth it for the third time since he had fished it out of his bag ten minutes ago, already void of creases. He breathes in. He breathes out. Why was he so nervous to give this letter to her?

He’d decided (in a state of tired deliriousness) that he should write a letter in order to convey his emotions on his absolutely ginormous crush on Maria, the girl in his history class that he had always thought, even upon seeing her for the first time, was the most adorable and precious thing this world had to offer. 

He was practically smitten with her.

And apparently a text wouldn’t be enough to convey his emotions properly, after all he considered himself a bit of a romantic and a text didn’t have the same personal flair as a handwritten letter would.

Right?

He keeps having to reassure himself that he’s doing the right thing here, really it’s not going down to well in his head as nerves keep getting the better of him.

The chair in which Jaehyun would be sitting in was situated just under a large window that was slightly pushed open and the blinds only half closed, allowing a pleasant amount of darkness to be let into the room, as well as a cooling breeze that was beneficial in the summer heat. Said breeze continued to ruffle the paper in his hands and as such he had to keep it pinned to his desk with both his hands whilst his thoughts and emotions were scrawled across the page. The breeze wasn’t all bad though; although he’d never admit it aloud, Jaehyun couldn’t help but watch in awe as the wind that flowed into the room ruffled Maria’s hair with the slightest brush, disrupting her neatly styled hair but not so much that it seemed to irritate her.

She looked tranquil, like she was posing for a vacation campaign. She made the classroom somehow look like a beach resort, oddly featuring Miss Khang who was desperately trying to make deep eye contact with Maria whilst she pushed on with the lesson with a commendable amount of determination.

He decided to take one glance at her when he was certain she was entirely out of it, shamelessly moving his head in a way that declared to everyone around him ‘yes, I’m going to look at her - what are you going to do about it?’. And, quite possibly at the right and equally the wrong moment, Maria’s eyes darted to the left and slightly behind her as she turned her head to face him as if sensing his gesture. 

As soon as her head moves even slightly in the direction towards him his large hands go to shield her eyes from the letter and he tries to push it messily under his notebooks that littered his school desk so he didn’t give away the game so soon. Unfortunately, she saw every move and was now watching his hasty actions with interest to see what results would be yielded from them. 

He feels hot all over, the blush spreading up to his ears and his cheeks incinerating with the sheer heat they were radiating. Nervously scratching at his tie while he made himself a little more comfortable, Jaehyun immediately managed to shoot her a small smile so as to not appear awkward and immediately look at Miss Khang like she was the most enthralling person in the world, all the while his hands still keeping a tight hold on the piece of paper concealed under his French textbook.

Eventually, after enough staring at Miss Khang, Maria seems to shrug and avert her eyes, passing it off as an awkward brush of their gazes and being caught in the act of mid motion.

As Miss Khang continued with what she was saying, Jaehyun took this as an opportunity to take in the details of Maria, despite not seeing her face properly from the angle she had turned back around at, almost like she knew what was happening.

Maria’s hair seemed thick but unbelievably soft, strands woven in between one another, creating the illusion of it being styled but had probably just been brushed through hastily that morning in a state of morning blurriness. Her collar was neatly tucked into the back of her blazer and her tie sat comfortably underneath the lapels of her collar, pulled just tight enough to give this formal approach that everyone seemed to consider.

While he looked at Maria’s immaculate uniform, Jaehyun began to consider his own clothing. As has been previously stated, Jaehyun had never seen a school with such a prestigious uniform. In fact, it was unsettling; not one person seemed to have a hair out of place. He suddenly began to feel very self conscious of his appearance, feeling as though his tie was too loosely folded or his blazer didn’t fit him around his broad shoulders as well as the others did.

His fingers move swiftly to pull out the piece of paper and finish the last sentence, his feelings finally forming words in his head after a moment of consideration and watching the groundskeeper for inspiration as he tended to the rolling plains of grass that he would be sitting on for his lunch in a few hours.

“Jaehyun, could you continue reading please?”

Snapping out of his daze in a blind panic he realised that he should have collected a book from a large stack at the front of the room as he made his way to his seat, too entirely engrossed with Maria’s appearance from the moment the class had been allowed to enter to care about the fact that he might be here to actually learn something useful.

As if in instinct, his fingers grasp the piece of precious paper in his hands.

Multiple heads from his peers were starting to turn towards the awkward and smiley kid with the too-deep dimples who was slightly slumped over his desk in the corner, his eyes growing wider with every millisecond the silence continued on for after his instruction had not been fulfilled.

The silence lasted no more than a couple of moments as Maria, who had not seemingly moved until this moment in excess, lifted her book in the air and showed the cover to him from where she sat on the front row, turning around in her seat and smiling slightly in amusement at the most likely stupid look on his face, displaying the front page of the book to Jaehyun as if this would help him in his awkward situation.

The words on the front of the book were clear and in bold print, making them stand out even despite the incredibly bright sunlight streaming in through the small margin between the blinds and the window sill.

The French Revolution. 

Without a copy of the history textbook in front of him and nothing to refer to in his internal monologue to suggest what should come next in the text, he just blankly stares at the teacher and then back to Maria who was giggling behind her hand slightly in a way that was pleasant and seemed to ease some of the tension in the room - at least for Jaehyun anyway. 

At first he thinks that Miss Khang is merely going to hand him a copy of the text he should have in front of him and instruct him on what to read out for the rest of the class that was now looking at him expectantly. However, this is short lived. 

She walks closer to his side of the room and stands in front of his row, her eyes narrowing as she prepares her answer to his disobedience. He’s cringing already and she hasn’t even yelled at him to get out yet, his toes curled in his shoes and his neck tie suddenly feeling unbearably tight around his throat.

“Jung Jaehyun, please explain to me and the rest of the class why you weren’t following the reading?” 

Her voice is laced with razors, the sharpness to her tone enough to cut through the tension in the room and merely give it a bigger surface area rather than divide it and break the ice. She stands expectantly with a hand on her hip, the other holding the copy of The French Revolution textbook in her hand with her thumb pressed on the passage he should be reading out as they speak.

Not even daring to chance a look at Maria in fear he would crumble into dust out of embarrassment on the spot, he shakes his head and feels the intensity of the heat his ears provide from his monumental blush.

“I didn’t have a copy of the text, Miss.” 

He sounds somewhat strong in his reasoning despite it being a pretty shitty excuse, he doesn’t mind though. What he minds about is the way Maria must be looking at him. The fact she’s looking at him at all is enough to send a hot feeling to his face as he thinks about the way her brown eyes must study him with some kind of interest as he squirms under his teacher’s interrogation.

“Then what have you been doing for twenty minutes whilst I’ve been teaching the class?” 

Jaehyun knows the timing was completely wrong for his movements but his hand is already moving before he can stop himself. He begins to pull the hand away from the desk that clutches the love note and heartfelt confession and hopefully drop it into his blazer pocket without her noticing. Considering she’s studying his every _breath_ intently, he figures that it would have been basically impossible to pull off such a maneuver.

“What’s that?” She snaps, weaving her way through the aisle as quickly as she could with her skinny hand outstretched and ready to snatch up the note so she had seen from the front of the room. 

She takes it from him in a flurry of her hand as she reaches his desk and he immediately, and albeit rather condemningly, lets his head fall into his hands and feels his stomach drop so far he’s sure it’s probably somewhere in the core of the Earth by now.

“Passing notes in class? Jaehyun I thought you were better than that…”

She sounds almost sad for him, and she hasn’t even read what the note said yet.

He wants the ground to open up and swallow him whole. A lump is appearing in his throat and he’s actually in the middle of class willing himself not to try in front of these people or god help whatever nickname he would be stuck with for the following years of his life.

Everyone’s turned around in their seats to look and observe the situation now. Jung Jaehyun was never in trouble, ever. And who had he been passing notes to?

He knows what’s coming, he knew from the moment she marched towards him what she was going to make him do next, and he’s practically on the verge of bolting out of there as fast as he possibly could. 

All he needed to do was escape.

Immediately.

Before she said the words-

“You know the protocol, Yoonoh. Read it out to the class so I can carry on with my lesson and waste no more time on this nonsense.”

_Read it out loud._

She can’t be serious.

“Can I refuse?” He tries, attempting to sound as polite and well mannered as possible as he delivered his lines which were equipped with the signature puppy dog eyes that he had mastered so well growing up with his siblings.

However, even that wasn’t going to be enough to pull it off.

“No.”

Shit.

 _Shit_.

He stands. 

His legs feel like jello and he wills himself not to faint or something from nervousness despite how badly he wants to get out of the situation. 

She hands him back the note and stands at the side of his desk waiting, her hands on her hips and the textbook abandoned on his desk like some kind of omen. The whole class is watching him, willing him to die on the spot silently. He doesn’t even know what Maria’s doing now, he doesn’t even want to know. After this he was going to transfer schools or move to Peru as a sheep farmer and live in the hills, forever plagued by shame.

He clears his throat, his hands taking hold of the note and his grip is noticeably shaky. 

This isn’t how he wanted to do this. 

Not at all.

He wills himself not to cry, wills himself not to feel the burning of his ears as he opens his mouth and begins to speak.

“It’s been three years, and not a day goes by where I don’t wish for your smile. I’m never disappointed either, you’re always there, a smile on your lips and a happy personality like nothing bothers you. I’d aspire to be like that so I had some happiness in my life, but I think after three years I discovered something better. I want you to be my happiness, I want you to be the happiness I need in my life in order to move on. The way your hair falls brings me happiness, the way you smile brings me happiness, the sound of your laugh brings me happiness. Maybe I’m just too soft or maybe I’m just delusional to think I could ever ask something of you, but here’s my chance to try it,” 

He doesn’t miss a beat, no matter how much he wants to run away from this situation and never look back on it after his painful rejection. A pin drop could be heard in the room, no one laughed thus far and no one had stood up and claimed they knew who it was about either. 

He knows the atmosphere is tense, he knows everything depends on this fateful moment.

Plucking some incredible amount of false courage out of himself, he looks up and makes direct eye contact with her in the front row of the class. She’s turned towards him completely, her eyes staring directly into his own. Almost like a challenge.

He’s so worked up and nervous he misses the huge smile stretched across the lower half of her face.

He decides to ad lib the rest, the last line being unfinished as Miss Khang had cut him short before he could complete the letter properly.

“Maria. I’ve loved you for as long as I could remember… would you…” somehow, he finds himself managing to smile. “Would you be my happiness?”

Silence falls throughout the room that’s almost more deafening than before.

And then, just when he’s sure rejection is in the line of sight for him, he hears it.

A small voice that almost escapes her mouth like a _giggle_ , “of course I will.” 

And he’s never known joy like it.


	8. The One With The Sleepy Head

Maria's eyes scanned over the lines on the page she was reading before she flipped to the next page calmly – it was night time, reading time for her, to be exact. She was on the bed, her back against the bed rest and her legs propped up nicely with blanket over her limbs to keep herself warm as the blanket pooled around her waist with a pillow in between the head rest and her. It was such a relaxing moment for Maria after a long day at work but even though she had come back merely two hours ago, Jaehyun had just got back not too long ago.

He was now in the shower, trying to feel at least freshened up before he went to bed with Maria.

As of now, she knew that he’d had a tough day. His boss has been nudging him, bugging him about the upcoming projects he hasn’t sealed in yet, his colleagues messing around with his documents even though it was unintentional – it was all nerve-wracking for him.

Of course, she had her troubles as well. As a waitress, it wasn’t as stressful as Jaehyun’s job – she understood that. However, Jaehyun never compares. He understands that being a waitress is tough too, but certain days like these, he’d like her to be there for him as he would occasionally lean on her for the trust and support they effortlessly give one another in times when it is needed.

And that meant everything to her knowing he loves and trusts her enough to be this open with her, Maria liked the amount of trust he had in her.

The moment the bathroom door opened, he came out with his sleeping clothes; an oversized shirt along with a pair of sweats. He tossed the towel to the rack a distance away before switching off the lights in the bathroom, closing the door. He took small steps towards the bed where he curled up beside Maria, his head buried in her lap whereas his arms tried to hug her waist the best way he could.

She tilted her book down where she peeked at him as he hummed delightfully as he got to feel that radiating warmth she had, this scent he smelled that he called ‘home’ – it kept him sane. She closed her book, putting it aside where her hands proceeded to play with his hair as she stroked his head delicately, he sighed in appreciation.

“Tough day at work?” She whispered in the silence and clarity that enveloped the two of you pleasingly.

He nodded in her lap, lifting his chin where he looked at her tiredly, “I swear, if I didn’t get back to you sooner, I’d start killing people.”

She chuckled, bringing him to lie his head properly on her lap as he had his back on the mattress, his legs dangling off the bed but he didn’t care – he liked this a lot…

Maria's hands continued playing with his hair as she looked down on him, the tip of her hair tickling his nose where it made him chuckle quietly whereas she giggled heartily, bringing a smile to his face as he had his hand up to tuck her hair back behind her ear, “You’re so beautiful…” He whispered and even though his voice was soft, she could notice how strained it was; he must be working so hard…

“Jaehyun,” Maria called him out, one of her hands still stroking his head whereas the other held onto his hand that had tucked strands of her hair behind her ear earlier.

“Yes, sweetheart?”

Maria sighed, frowning at him, “You really need to get some rest now, you look so tired…”

He lifted his head from her lap to glance at the clock before he laid his head down again, shaking his head as he laced his fingers with hers, “Tomorrow is a Saturday, so… I could sleep all day if I wanted to. I just want to spend some time with you now, babe…”

She managed to smile, loving the fact that he adores her so much to the point where he’d strain himself just a little bit more with her to keep Maria happy – Jaehyun was one of a kind.

And to him, she was the same as well.

She let go of his hand, lifting his head up where she made him lie down properly beside her. He frowned, eyes focused on her, “B-babe, what are you…?” He didn’t need to finish his sentence when he saw how she got up, quickly pacing over to switch off the lights, closing the bedroom door before she joined him back in bed, pulling the blanket up to cover him and she took the rightful spot beside him as to cuddle with him – he could only smile at her actions that would mean so little to others but so much to him.

“Sleep, 'Hyun. I’m here.” She whispered, lightly kissing his clothed chest before he wrapped his arms around her with a sigh, his lips kissing the side of your head, “How did I get so lucky?”

She chuckled, shrugging, “I should ask myself that, too.”

“If only someone could give me an answer…” He cheekily replied, making her hush him as she pressed her cheek against his chest, “Sleep, 'Hyun. You really need the rest.”

He smiled again, dipping down to kiss her forehead, “Goodnight, babe…”

She looked up to him, shifting up to give him a light kiss on the lips before she whispered in a hushed voice, “Sweet dreams, 'Hyun.”


	9. The One Where You Bake

“Babe!” He called out, rolling around on the bed after realising she wasn’t there in bed with him, clearly not beside him like she usually was. He decides she's probably in the room with him somewhere, so still being in a state of rest and bleariness from just being woken up by the noise of a police car outside, he manages to inspect the bedroom by peeking through the gap within the quilt. It yielded nothing, she wasn’t even anywhere near him in the room, making him frown.

“Babe?” He sat up on the bed, the blanket pooling down around his waist. He frowned harder, eyebrows furrowing when she didn’t even reply him.

“Princess!” He cried out, yanking the blanket off his body as he wandered over to the door, pulling it open as he stepped out groggily. He rubbed his eyes, mumbling her name as he staggered through the hallway towards the kitchen, leaning against the kitchen door frame as he yawns quietly into his palm. As he leans against the door frame of the kitchen and gains back his sight, he's warmed with the sight of her in a cute apron, her hair in a messy bun as she was standing by the counter with a whisk in her hands. Her other hand reached up blindly as she continued to mix whatever was in the large mixing bowl, using the back of her palm in an attempt to push her hair back from where it fell into her face but she failed horribly – her hands were covered with flour. With a large streak of white up her face from where her hands had touched the skin, she adorably continued to whisk whilst simultaneously twitch her nose a little, noticing the stroke of flour on the tip of her nose that made Jaehyun stifle a chuckle.

He entered the kitchen silently, standing behind her where his hands reached up to pull off the tied hair keeping her hair in place. She gasped, calling him out with a loud “Hey!” that gradually got softer when she glanced at him before looking front, staring at the reflection in the kitchen cabinets where she could see him pulling her hair back, gathering all the strands of her hair to retie her hair again nicely, into a much neater bun compared to the one before this.

“Thank you…” Maria's voice was soft, delicate even, as it entered his ears. It made him want to protect her from anything and everything, even though he knows she can do all that for herself and more. Regardless, he snaked his arms around her waist, determined to pull her closer. Another hushed gasp left her lips when she noticed how his arms and toned chest were bare as he pressed his chest against her back – he purred in delight, causing her to look over her shoulder with a slightly shocked look.

“Mmm… You smell good…” He murmured quietly, lips attached to Maria's neck where his breath was tickling her skin.

She gulped, noticing that her cheeks were heating up as she stammered, “H-Hyun', I can’t b-bake with you hugging me like this…”

He snickered, glancing up to notice her slightly pink cheeks. He was enjoying it so much that it was a bit hard for him to resist kissing her, or her neck for that matter – but he managed to pull through, kissing her neck anyway before he decided to bury his face in its crook comfortably, his warmth radiating with hers – it was simply exquisite to him.

“You can try…”

She wiggled him off, but he remained clinging to her like a hopeless, adorable koala.

“I-I am trying and it’s not working…”

He snickered, “Obviously you’re not trying hard enough.”

Maria sighed, shaking her head – how can she bake his favourite when he’s bugging her like this?

“'Hyun…” He heard how her tone changed, how serious she was getting but he couldn’t help himself. He likes it whenever he gets to hug her this close. “Just a few more minutes…” He protests immediately, already knowing where she was going with the conversation line.

“You know you never mean what you say.” She tried wiggling herself off him again but it once again failed. He hugged her tighter, lifting his chin from her shoulder where he gave her a sheepish grin as his head loomed over her collarbone, lips pressed against her cheek, “Look at me, Princess…” He whispered against her cheek, causing her to shake her head, looking down at the bowl with a grin.

He saw that smile of hers through the reflection, his lips still stuck at her cheek, “I’m not moving my lips until you kiss me…” He muffled his words due to how his lips were pressed against her skin. She groans like what he had asked her to do was a chore, earning a small smile out of him that pushed it's way determinedly into the kiss as their lips moved together in a perfect harmony, his head involuntarily turning to get a better access in kissing her.

There was a brief pause. Was it him or did she taste extra sweet?

He pulled away, a small furrow of his eyebrows as he pecked her lips to confirm that taste.

“Honey?” He asked, causing her to nod – “I’m making your favourite honey glazed cupcakes.” She explains, smirking at him because she knows how he gets the cravings for such a snack.

He smiled like the little devil he was – speaking of honey….

He looked over to the other side of the counter where he spotted the bottle of honey. He had let go of you completely, causing her to sigh in bliss when she could move freely to start with the wet batter after finishing the dry components first, leaving it to one side. As she started mixing it in with an electric mixer, she could see out of the corner of her eyes with nothing short of horror at how Jaehyun was literally _wasting_ the honey

Well, not really wasting it but putting drops on his finger and licking it off as his eyes kept staring at her – it was starting to make her feel uneasy.

Maria turned to look at him, her hands pushing her sleeves up with a tiny huff, “Is there something you want to say?”

He shook his head, his tongue darting out to lick his index finger that was slightly coated with honey. She gulped, looking away from him as she tried to find something to do, shuffling the recipe books or folding the dish towel again, but there was nothing to do – she had to wait for about eight minutes for the batter to get all mixed up well.

Jaehyun saw that you had time to spare, causing him to come closer with the bottle of honey where he called her out quietly. She turned her head to meet his where his other hand lifted up, to swipe some honey on her exposed collarbone, making her gasp as she lifted her chin to stare at him with wide eyes.

“H-'Hyun-“

“Shh…” He hushed her, his head dipping down to lick her collarbone, “You have time to spare…”

His tongue poked past his lips, onto her skin where he licked over her collarbone in the most tormenting way yet – he was definitely teasing her based on how his tongue swirled over and over on her skin even though he had sucked up the honey already; it was driving her crazy. "Yoonoh!” She managed to breathe out, pushing him away where he was grinning at her flustered state.

She narrowed her eyes at him, swiping the bottle of honey off his hands where she managed to dab some honey on her finger before she had accidentally swiped it on his nipple – she was aiming for his neck, though… She saw how wide his eyes popped, how his cheeks went red as he choked on his saliva – he was starting to feel that tension he made her feel earlier.

Since she had this coming, might as well you continue.

She dipped down, licking around his chest before her tongue reached his nipple. He breathed out her name shakily, his hands gripping onto her waist with his breathing getting shallow as she sucked with her tongue swirling around to get the honey off. When she pulled away with a soft ‘pop’, he growled at her, wanting to reach for the bottle of honey but she stepped back with a finger wiggling at him, “Hell no. We're not wasting all the honey! I need this to make the cupcake toppings!”

He frowned, but it felt like a light bulb was above his head when he grinned at her deviously.

“You know, we live right by the grocery store downstairs…”

She blinked and gulped at him, stammering, “S-So what?”

He managed to snatch the bottle, “So we can waste all of this – and I’ll go buy some later…”

“And by later, when is that?”

He placed some honey on his lips this time, his tongue darting out to lick the corner of his lips before he inched closer to yours, “After a few more kisses.”


	10. The One Where He Doesn't Listen

Two knocks on the door was all it took for Maria to lift her chin up with her eyes still heavy as she tried to keep them open. The heaviness under her eyes was literally begging her to get some shut eye but she had so much left to do… so much to take care of before she could actually go home. She cursed herself as she rose from the office desk chair, knowing she should have worked a little harder during the day to finish all the paperwork that needed to be done for certain work priorities. She was so caught up in her own thoughts of home that she didn't notice her secretary had already opened up the door.

 _Home_ – that sounded really nice right now.

“Ma’am?” A voice spoke up through the gap of the door, causing her to clear her throat where she motioned her secretary in, already returning to the safety of the other side of her desk which was swallowed in paperwork. “Come in…”

With a polite bow, she stood in front of her with a tired smile – she was here with Maria the whole day as well.

“Aren’t you tired, yet? It’s nearly 1a.m..”

Maria's eyes widened where she glanced at her clock with a gasp – it was that late already? Maria immediately felt bad for her, a pang of guilt resonating through the air between them as though her utmost feelings could be shared and experienced too. Her secretary had a life too and for her to unknowingly make her work overtime was making Maria feel something along the lines of what she imagines a sucker punch would feel like. 

Maria looked back at her with a small frown, ceases on her forehead to emphasise how she was stressed yet guilty at the same time. “I-I’m so sorry. You can go home now. I didn’t realise it was this late…”

She shook her head with a warm smile, “It’s my job. Aren’t you heading home as well?”

It was Maria's time to shake her head with a tiny smile, “I can’t – there’s so much left to do and I’ll try to get it done within an hour before I leave. Go home before it gets any later.”

She took a step forward, clear worry glazing her eyes as she spoke in a hushed voice, “You haven’t eaten since lunch, ma’am. Shall I order something for you before I go?”

With that heartwarming smile Maria gave her, she shook her head along with it. “I’m really fine. You’ve done more than enough for today – thank you so much. I’ll see you tomorrow. Get some rest.”

Although she was hesitant, she could see that Maria wasn’t going to give in, especially now. She nodded in response, her lips parted to remind her, “Oh, you remember that there’s a meeting tomorrow right?”

She nodded as it clicked in her mind. The timetable formed in her head and she flicked through to the schedule of tomorrow that highlighted that the meeting would start at 10.a.m.. “Yes, I do.”

“Shall I send a message to everyone as a reminder?”

She felt like a part of the burden on her shoulders was lifted, “If it’s not a bother to you.”

She chuckled lightly, “If it was a burden, I wouldn’t have offered.”

Maria snorted, “Maybe you were just being nice.”

She took her leave after sending a message to everyone under Maria's name and with the message she wanted to deliver. Once she had left, Maria leaned back against her chair with a quiet sigh – she was also wondering how _he_ was doing at home. She remembered vaguely that he wanted to come into the office for days now but she had told him not to come. She told Jaehyun that she’d be fine but now, somehow, she was regretting it a little. His presence in the office would have been foreign of course, but his presence at all would have been some kind of comfort. 

She sighs.

Receiving a hug from him as he whispered sweet nothings into her ears sounded delightful.

She sat up properly with her hands holding onto a file before she flipped it open to check the reports that were filed in. She had a few more files to go before she’d print out some documents and right after that, she can finally call it a day with at least a bit of sleep. As her eyes got busy, her nose received the attention from the waft of scent that invaded the room with surprising speediness.

She shook her head with a small smile, knowing that her secretary didn’t listen at all.

Maria lifted her chin, her lips already saying, “I told you not to get me any-“ her voice trailed off quietly and involuntarily, she stood up with her lips parted just staring at who was ahead of her. He gave her a toothy grin, stepping in with the picnic basket in his hands as he used a foot to kick the door shut. She remained staring at him, the scent of the delightful aroma vanished, replaced with tiny kisses all over her body just appreciating the fact he was here.

He just never listens, huh?

And, although it was late and it sounded selfish, she was glad he hadn't.

“You did?” He chuckled, answering her question that wasn’t meant for him at all. She simply blinked at him in awe, at lost for words as he placed the basket on the table before he walked around it just to stand in front of her. His large hands placed on her shoulders, turning her to face him where he stared into her tired eyes – he wanted to just make her feel better the best way he could. She still couldn’t grasp onto the fact he was here, “H-'Hyun…”

He framed her cheeks delicately, rubbing the under of her eyes lightly, “Yes, princess?”

She gulped, shaking her head a little, “W-What are you doing here?”

Instead of feeling ‘hurt’ because she had asked him that, he simply glided his hands down to hold her by the waist, luring her away to the sofa where he sat down before he pulled her down to him. His strong, masculine arms snaked around her waist, bringing her lower where he lightly kissed her lips before whispering, “You don’t want me here?”

She shook her head quickly, her eyes blinking at him rapidly, “N-No! I-It’s just that… I…”

“Shh,” He hushed her, unable to keep up the teasing with how cute she was. Even though she was tired, she was still effortlessly gorgeous to him – it felt surreal. “I know that you told me not to come by but… I couldn’t sleep without you by my side. I’d rather come here and stay here with you than stay home alone where I miss you on my own.” One of his hands shot up to tuck strands of her hair behind her ear the moment her hands found purchase on his shoulders – he smiled at her again. “Besides, I think I’m killing two birds with one stone with me being here.”

As she raised her eyebrows, he laughed before he clarified, “Me being here solves the reason for me to miss you and the reason for you to miss me.”

She scrunched up her nose a bit, “How do you know I miss you?”

He shook his head with a ‘tsk’, leaning up where he nuzzled his nose with hers, “I don’t need to hear it know it, Princess.” 

He boldly pressed his lips against hers, making her wince at the sudden aggression when his arms were suddenly tugged around her waist tight. Her hands squeezed his shoulders unintentionally, kissing him back with her eyes fluttering shut the moment she felt that smirk he let her feel in the kiss. He ran his tongue over her bottom lip, demanding for her to part her lips and let him have his way as her lips parted on their own. He took that moment to tease her with his tongue as he played around with her tongue, making her body shiver in delight as she held onto him. He noticed how she didn’t have enough energy to kiss him back properly that he leant back, breaking the kiss that made her open her eyes wearily. He pecked her lips once, mumbling against her lips, “You don’t miss me?”

Letting him win, she shook her head as she rested her head on his shoulder. Maria's forehead pressed against his neck as she hugged him around his waist with a quiet sigh, “I miss you a lot, 'Hyun…”

He smiled warmly, looking to the side where he managed to catch the side profile of her – she looked so tired that it made his heart clench on how tired she must really be feeling…

“How about we head home?” He suggested nicely, his lips at her ear where he proceed to kiss the side of her head lovingly, “Hmm?” He hummed in request, waiting for her answer.

She sighed in silence, hugging him loosely, “I can’t, 'Hyun… There’s so much left to do.”

In an instant, he held her up, making her stand up on her feet abruptly with him holding onto her waist. Her eyes widened at him, looking down on him with her hands holding on his shoulders for support. He grinned up to her, motioning her with a hand, “Then do what you’ve got to do – and then we’ll head home. Together.”

She raked a hand through her hair, taking a step back where her hands left his shoulders, “'Hyun, it’s going to take a while and-“

“I don’t care how long it takes.” He reached for her hand, giving it a squeeze, “I’ll wait for you.”

Her heart softened, her hand holding onto his back with a shy smile where she asked him meekly, “You won’t get tired?”

He pulled her closer until he could linger her hand in front of his lips. He brought it nearer, planting a kiss on the back of her hand, “Not if I’m waiting for you.”


	11. The One Where It Lasts All Night

“Where are you taking me?” 

Maria questioned impatiently. All Doyoung did was hush her offhandedly, allowing the nerves to build up in her chest. He had his hands placed firmly on her shoulders and was leading her somewhere in the apartment that she was unfamiliar with due to the suit tie tied around her eyes. Doyoung had been enough of a quick thinker to know that Maria wouldn't follow him anywhere until she knew where they were going, so force and a blindfold was clearly his best chance of success. 

“Hush.” He snickered to no one other than himself when he heard her grumbling a few choice curse words aimed at him, calling him a good for nothing young dork but it made him grin anyway. 

He reaches across from her shoulders outwards, the movement followed by the sound of a door creaking open. She instinctively began to grow possibly more curious than before, her eyebrows furrowing as she couldn’t piece together where she could be.

“Doyoung, I swear if you don’t tell me where I am, I’m going to kick you.” Maria huffed under her breath, making him gasp slightly and it made her smirk.

“Okay, take off your blindfold. Thank me later.” 

With that cheeky comment, he left, making the door closing evident and taking his sweet time to make sure she heard the latch being flicked on as he locked the door. She sighed and proceeded to remove the blindfold only to notice that she was now, rather ironically given their current circumstances, in Jaehyun’s room. Said ironic circumstances caused her to let out a small groan, sounding something along the lines of - “I knew it.” 

She tossed the blindfold aside, making sure it landed on the bed and not the floor but still being mad enough at the 'circumstances' to make sure it would crease. Passive aggression at its finest. Maria turned abruptly on her heel after watching where the tie landed, striding towards the door in an attempt to escape. However, the moment her fingers merely brushed the brass of the doorknob, the door flew open, revealing Jaehyun who was just as clueless as Maria was moments earlier. The only difference is, he was being shoved in roughly by Yuta who abruptly dumped Jaehyun in his own room before both Yuta and Doyoung locked the door once more. 

Jaehyun didn't waste a moment in trying to escape either, which was something that made Maria feel slightly better that she wasn't the only one trying to run away from the 'circumstances'.

“Yuta!” Jaehyun hollered, furiously banging on the door a few times, making Maria's head shake with a small sigh, “It’s not going to work, 'Hyun.”

He hissed at her quietly and rather too optimistically like he didn't really know Doyoung or Yuta at all, “It might.”

Maria shrugged, not wanting to fight again. 

There had already been too much of that. 

She paced over to his window where she stood there, hands buried deep in her pockets and a small shiver running down her spine due to the constant draft in the room that could never be sourced. Maria looked down from where his room was on the tenth floor, her eyes gazing down to see all the people walking by along holding shopping bags and purses, most being sweet couples that made her sigh audibly. Why wasn't it ever that easy?

Before Jaehyun could bang on the door again, he found himself sensing a chance in the room (whether it be the atmosphere or the intensity of Maria's icy presence after a fight merely moments ago) and held himself back, finding it awkwardly quiet in there. He peeked over his shoulder with his fists still pressed against the door frame in an attempt to either bash it down or alert their captors that they weren't willing to stay here for longer than they needed to. The gaze over his shoulder allowed him to see her as she looked down on the street below, her hair ruffling a little in the wind from the ever present draft. It was too quiet as she stared down from the window, and Jaehyun hated it when she was quiet. 

Curiously, he shifted back in the dark room, sneakily creeping up behind her where he looked over her shoulder down onto the streets where he questioned, “What are you looking at?”

Maria avoided his gaze, “Nothing." 

Feeling particularly spiteful in light of the recent argument they had been experiencing, she manages to bite on the end, "especially not a guy, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

With that, she paced away from him to sit on the bed where he could only watch and exhale loudly. It was going to take more than a conversation turner, clearly.

It had been going rather pleasantly merely moments ago; Doyoung, Yuta and Maria had arrived at Jaehyun's apartment with the intent to watch movies and relax. However, no one could have been prepared for the outburst of pure _jealously_ that had come from Jaehyun, who surprisingly had been in a tense mood from the moment they had arrived. It was a havoc just trying to control them both just shouting at each other but neither of them couldn’t help it, both of them too stubborn to drop the topic completely. 

Jaehyun was jealous of the guys at work. 

And as a result had decided that _now_ was the time to spring such a conversation topic onto her, when Doyoung and Yuta were there in the same room and had to endure the little domestic incident that had exploded out of nothing in the living room.

Although they did their best to stay out of the way, when Jaehyun had turned to Maria with a sharp comment about her getting a lot of male attention from the younger boys in the office (even going as far as to say that maybe she enjoyed the attention a little more than she was willing to admit) Doyoung and Yuta had immediately stuck up for Maria and had fought against their best friend, saying that _no_ it was quite obvious the only male attention that Maria would ever care about would be Jaehyun's.

But, he couldn't see it.

So, when the argument had begun out of nothing and they had to sit back and watch it become increasingly worse and worse, they had decided to intervene and try and control the situation. By locking them in Jaehyun's bedroom together.

It wasn't the best plan considering Maria wanted to anything else but be stuck in a room with Jaehyun at that moment in time. 

Moving over from the window, he sighed deeply, shaking his head as he had already thought things through when he was away from her for a moment. He had realised what he had done wrong especially after clarification from the guys that indeed, the youngsters at work meant nothing to her. Those scumbags were just her colleagues, her juniors that may or may not take a liking to her. Even if they did, it wouldn't matter because it would never be reciprocated with any kind of emotional feeling like Maria did for him.

And, feeling like an idiot as he brought himself towards her, he moved as slowly and as gingerly as possible as if he were approaching a gazelle in the plains of Africa. When he sat down, he did so slowly so as to allow her to notice his presence when the bed dipped down under his weight. Maria shifted away instinctively, making him frown as he came closer again. “B-Baby, I-“ He couldn’t say anything else when she wasn't even looking at him, instead determinedly staring at the miscellaneous stain in the carpet beside his bedside table where she's sure he spilt juice when they were trying to set some kind of a sexy mood once. 

He feels a pang of guilt in his chest.

He fucked up.

He resulted to reaching over for her hand but he only managed to hold onto one of them as she tried to move them out of his reach – better than nothing. She wanted to pull her hand back and was on the verge of doing it before she felt the movement on her waist and the feeling of being pulled into something warm and strong. Most likely his chest, however, she had closed her eyes out of instinctive fear.

“L-Let go!” She hissed, still trying to break free but being seemingly unable to do so. She couldn’t move an awful lot when he pulled her closer so forcefully, making her face collide with his sturdy chest when she fell into his embrace. His arms slid to lock around her body, making sure she couldn’t escape and indeed, there was no avail for her.

“Jaehyun!” Maria's voice was muffled but it didn’t make him stop, he still held her close with his face buried in her hair.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered in a such a sincere voice, making her halt her movements as she paid close attention to what he was saying. Maria's eyes were slightly wide as she remained stagnant, allowing him to pull her away gently just so he could move his hands up to frame her cheeks delicately. He could see that her eyes were slightly red, a sign that she had been, or currently was, crying.

“I’m sorry I accused you of liking the spotlight from those filthy bas-“

“Jaehyun.” She cut him off when he was going to be rude. 

He manages a small smile in an attempt to lighten the mood in the room slightly. _“That guy in your workplace.”_ He corrected himself quickly, still not making her smile. Instead, she just stared at him blankly. He sighed and dipped down to whisper against her lips that he wanted to kiss her more than anything else, however before he could carry out the action he wanted to make sure he was forgiven first. 

“I’m really sorry that I doubted you like that and… I want to make it up to you- No,” He shook his head, unintentionally nuzzling his nose with hers, “I _am_ going to make it up to you.”

Maria was the first one to lean a bit closer, pressing her lips against his before he growled against hers, hands gliding down her body before he started to remove her clothes with sudden force, like the only thing on his mind was make-up sex immediately after the argument had ceased. “Am I forgiven?” He asked with a voice clouded with lust but it only made her smile at him widely, “Let your body do the talking, 'Hyun.”

He gave her a dark grin when he removed his shirt, “Then lay back, princess.”

 

“Do you think it worked?” Yuta asked quietly, nudging Doyoung who was going to fall asleep. Doyoung groaned with exasperation, his hands moving without the coordination of his eyes as his face was concealed with a pillow. However despite not being able to see he successfully shoved Yuta off gently, “Go to sleep, Yuta. Didn’t you hear the moaning?" He feels his face flush fuschia as another noise, most likely another moan, filled the guest bedroom. "I’m sure it worked.”

“But what if-“

Yuta was interrupted by the sudden smacking sound of wood against plaster, a loud noise of pleasure sounding just after. 

Doyoung could almost laugh at how Yuta’s face was stoning but he decides to pat Yuta on the shoulder as a substitute. “I’m sure that’s enough to assure you that they’re fine, Yuta.”

“Y-Yeah, I think so.” Yuta mumbled quietly, hurrying himself to jump into the bed where he pulled the cover above his head, “Goodnight, Doyoung.”

“I can’t promise you a good night sleep, Yuta.”

“Why not?” Yuta asked, head still covered with the blanket.

“I think they’re going to go on all night.”


	12. The One With The Collarbones

Maria couldn't stop the small grin from attacking her face as her her fingers trailed lightly across and along his body.

Well, to be exact, on his collarbones.

She knew her boyfriend to be a man who had a mostly built up and mostly muscle appearance, however when he was like this - the bed sheets pulled up to his biceps and his top half mostly exposed due to the heat in the bedroom even with the fan on - one would think otherwise. His collarbones were perfectly sculpted, both prominent yet not so much that it was obtrusive. Admittedly she wished he would eat more so that _this_ level of boldness made his collarbones visible but she decides she'll bring up such a sensitive topic another time.

She counts that his collarbones are almost her second favourite physical feature about him, purely because it contrasted his strong and bold appearance with the delicateness of his bone structure towards the top of his body. He was a walking contradiction.

The first favourite physical feature would be his eyes – but he’s asleep, and she was awake, henceforth she didn't have the opportunity to gaze into those just now.

So that just leaves his collarbones for her to caress and admire.

Although her appreciation and love for him ran deeper than the physical qualities he has, he wouldn't be shy to admit that he liked it a lot whenever she touched him like this. It wasn’t from pure lust – it was completely innocent and he could feel the deep, heartwarming feeling whenever she touched him ever so delicately like for once he was made of glass too, not just how he took care to hold her.

Currently, he had his arms around her while she had her arm by his waist where his weight was pressing down onto her while her other hand had the freedom to touch one side of his collarbone as he was only wearing a wife beater to sleep along with a pair of boxers.

Her heart skipped a beat when she heard a groggy, “Mmm…” Coming from him – a sign he had woken up.

Him arousing from sleep didn’t stop her thumb from rubbing over his collarbone, her palm pressed warmly on his exposed shoulder where his eyes peeled open to look at her with an appreciative smile. He constantly made a list and rearranged it of her prettiest feature, although it was like looking at jewels all of the same cut just different colours. Everything was just as beautiful as the other but in a different way. She looked so beautiful even in the early hours of the morning like they were in then.

He managed to groan a little, opening his eyes properly to look down on her where he stared at her admiring his collarbones as she continued to stroke delicately with her thumb, “You have beautiful collarbones, 'Hyun…” She mumbled adorably, causing him to snicker as he reached over for her hand to hold onto it tight on his shoulder.

“I should start charging you each time you touch my collarbones like that.”

She gave him a slight pout – he could never resist. “You can’t charge me for that…!”

He snickered, pulling her hand down, away from his shoulder where he held onto two of her hands tight with his before he laced them together in between their bodies. “Yes I can.”

She huffed, letting go of his hands where she rolled on the bed, turning her back towards him. He let out a small laugh, shifting on the bed to pull her until her back was pressed against his chest with little to no room in between. He slyly moved down to let her shoulder press against his collarbone – it made her gasp. “Don’t sulk on me…” He murmured, planting a soft kiss on her cheek when his head popped over her shoulder, causing Maria to grin when she turned around on the bed just to poke his collarbones. It certainly brought a smile to his face.

“You really have a thing for my collarbones, don’t you, Princess?” He found it amusing yet intriguing as he let his lips curl up into a small smile, a hand on her head where he stroked it delicately, the same way she was stroking his collarbones with her thumb again. “It’s just… you have amazing collarbones, 'Hyun.” She muttered honestly, eyes gleaming as she moved over to look into his eyes where he stared at that beautiful pair of dark orbs that he loved more than words could describe – more than she loved his collarbones.

He had this unreadable expression and she couldn't decipher what it meant.

“Why are you smiling like that…?”

Her hands moved to place on his shoulders gingerly when he pulled her closer, dipping down to get a closer view of her eyes, “Remember you told me you wanted to know what is my favourite physical feature you have was?”

She nodded.

His lips brushed against hers delicately where she had them parted, and he smirked.

“Your lips, baby… It’s my turn to get a touch.” His lips gently crashed with hers, colliding in perfect synchronization when he could feel that like an automatic switch, her lips had moved along with his. The playfulness of the kiss existed when he bit her lower lip with a bit of roughness in it, making her mewl as she parted her lips for him, granting him access. His tongue entered boldly, giving her own a lick before he proceeded to wound his arms around her tight, pushing her up so he wouldn’t need to bend down. He had gained better access at kissing her like this.

He felt a small wince that came from her – a signal she needed to breathe and he sharply pulled away, letting her inhale and exhale deeply, cheeks flushed with a light shade of pink that brought an eager smile to his face. He let his hand move up to swipe his thumb over her bottom lip with a grin, “You’re blushing.” He commented and she gulped, looking away but he cupped her chin, making her face him again firmly. “I like that.” He purred seductively, leaning in to capture her lips with his again.

God knows how long the two of them remained there as she allowed him to kiss her.

Not that she minded – his kisses were addictive and sweet.

Just like the man himself.


	13. The One Where You Wait Up

Maria was lying sprawled out on the couch as she waited for her boyfriend to get to her apartment. He promised he would be there by 9 pm at the latest, and it was already almost ten pm now. He wasn’t really late, but she could tell he wouldn’t be coming home anytime soon. She knew she shouldn’t be mad at him, after all it wasn't like he could predict when work was going to end. He was an idol and he had his responsibilities. 

She tried her best to stay up for him through sheer willpower and determination, but she could feel her eyes starting to droop. She tried to shake the feeling off, but she could feel the tiredness blanketing over her constantly as she tried her best to fight the feeling.

 _“No, I need to stay up.”_ She said to herself as she sat up, allowing herself a small smack to her cheek in hopes the stinging sensation would keep her nerves awake a little while longer. She grabbed the remote off the coffee table and turned the TV on in a final bid of trying to stay awake for the sake of her boyfriend. The dim room filled with bright light that practically blinded her, a light she was unfortunately not used to due to her sitting in the darkness of the living room for some hours already that day. She blinked several times as she tried to adjust to the sudden light, her eyes just about focusing on the screen. She watched as the woman on the screen rambled on about her husband finally returning home from a business trip. She was pretty sure she was watching a drama, but she was finding it extremely hard to follow due to her drifting mind.

“Maria, are you sleeping?” Jaehyun asked from somewhere behind her. 

She stuck her head up over the side of the couch and saw him standing in the hallway as clear as day, although her vision was a little blurry around the edges due to her drowsiness, she smiled at him and gestured him to join her on the couch. She mildly considers that she hadn't even heard his keys jingle in the bowl by the front door to signify he was truly home, but she thinks nothing of it and decides to revel in the fact that _he was home_. He was still sweaty from dance practice and she could see his muscles from the spots where his white shirt clung to his skin, which was most certainly not a bad thing. Her eyes lingered on the small droplets of sweat that rested on his collarbones, on his chin too and down the side of his temple as though she would be quizzed on such a topic later. He slowly approached her and leaned over her on the couch, building up to the moment of a kiss as though they had never kissed each other before. He hovered over her and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. “It feels like ages since I last saw you.” He whispered as he started kissing the side of her face absentmindedly, as though it were instinct. His lips trailed down to her cheek, then her jaw, before finally reaching her neck.

She was confused by his words. She had seen him only a few hours before he left for practice, and he was never this clingy. She was about to ask him if something was wrong when she found herself at a loss of words as his hands started rubbing her sides. One hand moved up, under her shirt, to message her breasts, as the other hand trailed down to rub against her inner thigh, her breath becoming shallower as his body pressed against hers in every which way. Her hands went straight to the hem of his shirt and she pulled it up, breaking the kiss for merely a second so she could pull his shirt completely off as though they were still desperate horny teens that couldn't stand the uncomfortable and restricting friction of clothes. Her hands pressed against his flushed heaving chest; filling her with a feeling of absolute lust at the sight of him so wrecked beneath her. 

The hand that was on her thigh moved up, coming closer to the one spot where she wanted it the most, as though he were one step ahead of her and had decided to take it upon himself to read her thoughts. His long fingers snapped the waistband of her gym shorts in a motion to tease and caused a rather pleasing gasp to escape her lips. 

“Jaehyun… please don’t tease me.” She whined. He let out a soft chuckle. “Is my princess becoming impatient?” He teased her. He kissed her softly, trailing his tongue against her bottom lip as though her plead for no teasing had merely been a slight nudge in his course of actions he had clearly already planned out. She was practically melting under his touch, even letting her lips part with the quick succession of his tongue entering her mouth; fighting with her tongue for dominance despite both of them knowing the clear winner. She let him win with ease, not even bothering to put up much of a fight when she knew the skills Jaehyun had with his tongue.

His hand slipped into her shorts impatiently, like the winning of the battle was enough to make him abandon the thought of teasing. Maybe he was too far gone for that now. Jaehyun's fingers pressed against her clit through her underwear, the touch only light and careful, enough to make her have to keen into his hand in order to get the friction and feeling that she wanted. As if seeking revenge, her own hand moved down to his sweat pants, tugging at the loose waistband equally as impatient. She started to slowly rub his member through the material when she found Jaehyun was being stubborn and not allowing her to take his own pants off, feeling him growl against her lips. He pulled his hand away suddenly and she let out a short whimper in protest, knowing she should have kept her hands to herself and was now going to pay the price. “Why did you stop?” She asked, looking up at him. She feels the whole experience is blurry around the edges and cannot bring herself to snap out of the crazy experience she was having, his response is enough to do that for her, however. He smiles and turns to her, “because you need to wake up.”

She jolted up and quickly looked around. She was lying on the couch where she had inadvertently fallen asleep. The TV was still on, but it was no longer showing the same drama from before which was just as well because it had been a lost cause for her drifting and seemingly horny mind. She felt empty now that she was awake and realising that everything had simply been a dream, feeling also deflated due to the lack of interaction with the one person she missed the most in that moment. She let out a sigh as you thought back to the events of the dream, knowing that she could have all that and more when he came home. Usually, dance practice made him unbelievably horny or just bone tired, there was hardly ever an in between.

“Princess, what kind of dream were you having?” She heard Jaehyun’s mocking voice coming from behind the couch, although this time she was pretty sure she was in something close to reality. Everything was clearer and although she was still bleary eyed from the nap she had experienced, she almost jumped out of her skin when she sees him standing there and she seems to know that this was a lot more real than before. She turned around and saw him standing in the hallway, just like in the dream. But this time, she wasn’t filled with lust. Instead, she was just happy to see him.

She jumped to her feet and went over to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly, her motions delayed and slow as she gained back her energy. He wrapped his arms around her and pressed his face into her hair. “You were moaning a lot in your sleep. Is there something that you wanted to do?” He asked as he gave her ‘that’ look. She laughed and playfully smacked his arm. “No, nothing like that 'Hyun. I just want to watch a movie.” She informed him as she took his hand and guided him to the couch. She took a seat beside him and curled up against his chest. He hand his arm draped over her shoulder so that he was holding her close. She flipped through the channels until she settled on a cute romance movie.

“This is perfect, princess. I was so exhausted. You always know just what I need.” Jaehyun complimented her in a soft voice. He placed a kiss on the top of her head before tightening his arm around her. Halfway through the movie, she could feel Jaehyun’s head resting against hers, and she smiled to herself for she didn’t care that he fell asleep. After all, he was always working so hard, and as long as he was sleeping next to her, then she really didn’t care about anything else.


	14. The One Where He's Packing

“Princess, where’s the- babe?” He called out confusedly at the end. At first he had been determined to get the mouthwash for his toiletries bag but now, he was rather interested at where Maria had got to. He used his left hand to scratch the back of his head, his other holding onto a regular list he’d always use whenever he’s packing. The list had been laminated and narrowed down to the essentials to make optimum use of the kilograms he would be allowed on a regular flight, and it had been constructed by Maria herself in an attempt to help her boyfriend in his journey around the world.

It hurt to send him off to places where she could not follow, of course it did. However, this was Jaehyun’s dream and no matter how much it sucked to be alone all the time at home, it was worth it when at the end of the day he’d return to her. She just had to have faith that he always would come home.

“Princess?” He called out once more, opening the door to poke his head through to see if she was in any other parts of the apartment he could see from where he was standing. When he concluded that it was a no, with a huff, he turned around to see how his luggage bag was looking significantly more tousled than it had been when he had left it literally _moments_ ago.

And by messed up…

He lifted the bag open, nearly gasping when he caught sight of her. She was in a fetal position, fitting nicely in his luggage bag, her knees pulled into her chest and her body curled so that she just about fit into the suitcase he would be taking. “This is all you need to take, really.” Maria chuckled uneasily – this luggage wasn’t exactly spacious.

He laughed and put his list aside, crouching down before her with a hand on her head, smoothing over her hair. “What on earth are you doing in my bag?”

“Take me with you,” She breathed out with a frown and for a second there, he really thought she was serious. It didn’t help either that she had this blush on her cheeks and her voice was unusually squeaky with her cute question. He cocked an eyebrow at her, his hand on her cheek this time, “Oh yeah?”

Maria nodded with a shaky breath, moving to sit up in his luggage as he stabled her with a hand by her waist, “It sucks being at home alone all the time…”

He noticed the sadness in her tone and he saw how she didn’t want to look at him as she said that. What initially came across as cute had finally faded – revealing how lonely she would really be whenever he wasn’t around. Truthfully, he couldn’t imagine how it would possibly be like, either. He couldn’t possibly imagine that because he’d feel the same too if he placed himself in her shoes, experiencing everything she would – he didn’t know if he would be able to handle all of that.

“Princess, I… I know that I’m going to be away for a while but… have I ever not come back to you?” He licked his lips nervously, attempting to form his words properly, “I’ll always come back to you,” He then reached for her hands and she could almost see all the promises made in his eyes come to life; she couldn’t wait for that and she’d count down to the days she would be able to. He smiled and kissed her forehead, planting one of the softest kisses she's felt before he murmured, “I’ll always come home.”

Even though he knew he was being selfish, he couldn’t bear to let her be with someone else – not when he has fallen this hard, that fast, all those months ago.

“Wait for me?” He asked with that crooked smile of his; one that would set things straight regardless.

And with that chuckle that managed to swing his heart off like a homerun, she ruffled his hair, “When have I not?”


	15. The One With The Travelling

Yoonoh blinks slowly, more or less turning something as simple as blinking into some kind of battle within himself to stay awake. Occasionally he rubs at his bare eyes, the bb cream underneath them that sits in the folds of his skin spreading more evenly than what it had done in the bathroom half an hour previously with the aid of a sponge when said boy had been too sleepy to even drag the sponge across his face effectively and ultimately causing him to leave the bb cream unspread.

He’s perched atop of his suitcase, his long legs stretched out in front of him and his head lolling as he drifts in and out of an occasional snooze. Maria watches him in amusement, a faint smile creeping onto her lips and tickling the corners of her mouth. He was a work of art in motion, however had his moments of being more like a puppy being observed when it was unaware rather than a majestic sculpture or breathtaking painting. 

“Yoonoh…” She finds herself whispering, her voice not reaching for more than it needed to be. “Baby…”

With her soft coaxing, the lolling of Yoonoh’s head eventually stops. He slowly inclines his chin with a sharp angle of elevation due to Maria standing right beside him. He looks at her with one eye closed and the other squinting up at her through a very small parting in the eyelash, his lips are pouted and he’s oozing the warmth that she had come to accept and crave. 

“Hmmm…” 

It’s a sleepy murmur and so deep and low that Maria has to take a moment to look in the direction of the wind that’s sweeping down the street in order to cool her flushed face. 

Eventually, she finds the courage to run back and look at him again, her face still flushed but not as intense. 

“Don’t sleep just yet.” Her hand reaches out slowly yet surely, brushing across the crown of his head and curving down to match the slope of his jaw as her palm grazes the newly softened skin there all the way down to his chin. He pushes into the touch, much like a kitten in need of petting. She’d be lying if she said her heart didn’t thud a little louder in her ears. “Save your sleepiness for the flight…” 

A red-eye flight was the last thing she wanted now, and apparently the feeling was mutual. She moves to put her hand back into her coat pocket before it caught the chill in the air, however, Yoonoh had other ideas. As her hand is retracted from the warmth of his cheek, his own hands fly from the depths of his hoodie pockets and immediately wrap around her own like some kind of protection against the chill. They’re impossibly warm and impossibly soft, encasing her hand easily with the sheer size of them. 

Her gloves are in her purse yet she makes no move to retrieve them. 

This is so much better.

Her mouth begins to open to inquire what her boyfriend was doing when her brain finally clicks to his actions. He’s playing with her fingers; matching their palms up together and threading their fingers through with one another’s, unthreading and bending each digit in turn gently and experimentally like her hands were made of glass. He runs his other hand’s fingers over her love lines in her palm and traces the shapes and grooves of her fingers. 

She considers this is only pleasant for her, however one look at her boyfriend’s face tells her this is more than enough to keep him occupied whilst they wait for the taxi to take them to the airport. 

He’s smirking slightly as he turns her hand over in his own like they’re something precious and expensive, something otherworldly but in a good way.

And she’s just about to open her mouth to ask him why he’s smiling when he moves her hand closer to his face. So close in fact that she’s not too surprised when his lips brush the top of her hand, grazing her knuckles each in turn and planting a gentle yet firm kiss to the centre of her palm on the upper side.

Needless to say, she has to look into the direction of the breeze again to cool her cheeks.

“Did I make you flustered?” 

That deep and husky voice draws her out of her thought process as she turns away from him and breaks her stare down the street. He’s looking up at her from his seat on the suitcase with a faint smile ghosting over his lips and wide eyes like he’s completely innocent. Maria can’t help but hit him playfully on the arm as well as she could manage with being totally drained of all energy.

“Of course you did,” she breathes in deep and immediately feels the affection that rushes to her face as she whispers, “you always do.”

And the smile that overtakes his sleepy features warms the both of them to their hearts, reminding one another through the small gestures how much they both mean to the other.


	16. The One With The Balcony

_**‘Can you come out on your balcony?’** _

With a frown, already comfortable in her bed, Maria rolls over, tapping her reply before hitting send.

_‘What for? It’s dark outside…’_

She waits in confusion as she sees the message has been read, only being able to wait and tap her fingers against the side of her phone as she waits for a response: _**funny thing is… uh… I’m outside?**_

Unlocking the door and latching it to the side, she opens it wide enough for her to step through out into the chillness of the night and holding onto the railing, looking down immediately to see that—“Jaehyun! I-It’s… what are you doing out here?”

Maria sees him cuddled in his hoodie, hood over his head, hands in his pockets after putting his phone in and even under the moonlight surrounded by the darkness, he shines the brightest, “I wanted to see you,”

Although she loves to see him, “It’s late!”

“Exactly why I came out,” He snorts, referring to the fact that fan girls would be sleeping at this hour in this town and fuck, she should really hope so too. He pulls out his hands from his pockets, pointing, “Can I climb up?”

Maria takes an apprehensive look towards the staircase and has to hold her breath as she sees the railings of the fire escape practically begging her to say no. If he uses the fire escape, or if he tries to climb up at all, he's practically destined to fall. 

“Babe, I don’t think you should—“

“Fuck this,” She heard him muttering under his breath and Maria's biting her lower lip, inching out and over the railing to see him yanking down the metal bar, releasing the stair of ladders that slide down and he grins, looking up to her and she's reluctant to let him climb up but then again, she knows Jung Jaehyun—if he wants something, he’s going to get it.

“Wait for me,” He says, taking the first few steps up and she's praying internally God knows how many times please don’t fall, please don’t fall, please don’t fall. When she hears the metal screeching, her heart is about to fly out of her ribcage and she doesn't realise it but she's holding her breath in. He manages to get past the ladder that inches down and he yelps when he latches a hand on the railing of your balcony, able to climb quickly as she put her hands on his arm, trying to help him up and it helps to a certain extent when he gets to climb over and he grunts when he’s finally safe and secure on her balcony.

Maria give him a disapproving look, one that definitely says what the actual fuck is wrong with you, you could’ve fell and got hurt or break your legs or something but he ignores that, stretching his arms out, “I’m here,”

The look on her face doesn’t faze and his arms fall to his sides, he huffs, “Hey… I came here all the way to see you and climbed that—“

“You could’ve gotten hurt!” Maria scold, reaching forward to flick his forehead, proceeding to cross her arms with that pout on her face that makes him chuckle, taking this lightly on a visible aspect but she knows he’s probably considered the chances of him actually falling that he brushes it off now that he’s safe. He steps forward and gets closer, but doesn’t force her into a hug, instead, opens his arms wide again, “Are you sure you don’t want to hug me?”

With a groan, she can’t resist and she walks into his embrace. He snickers when he has her in his arms and he lures Maria backwards into the confinement of her home, succeeding in kicking his shoes off before he steps in. Then he nudges the door shut, making sure to lock it while still keeping her in his grip and she whines in his chest, hating that he smells good all the damn time and it’s making her harder to stay mad, “You really should stop doing that…”

“But using the stairs is such a hassle,” He starts off, referring to the fact he has to walk up three stories and wow, that’s such a pain in the ass compared to using the ladder. “Plus, it’s not like I haven’t done it before,”

“You’re on a death wish, I swear,” Maria grumbles under her breath, but tightening her arms around him tight enough that it makes him smile, pushing his hood off to reveal his messed up hair but damn it, why does he always look so good? He looks down on her the same time she looks up, granting him access to kiss her forehead, “Stop doing that face, you’re going to get wrinkles faster than me before we’re seventy,”

“Who says I’d be with you until we’re seventy?” She says, releasing her hold around him but he keeps an arm around herr lower back, the other cupping her chin, “Me,” He answers briefly, leaning to capture her lips into a kiss, gentle enough to soothe her heart but firm enough to make her gasp. He makes his way to the bed and pushes her down as gently as he could, “Don’t worry,” He muses, stroking her cheek with his thumb, “I’ll love you even if you have more wrinkles than me,”

“If you want to sleep in the same bed as me, I advise you to tone it down with sass,”

“But I mean it! Like, even with wrinkles you’d still—“

_“Sofa,”_

“I’ll shut up.”


End file.
